'BOYCOTT BENETTON'
Called for by The US-based Jewish Action Alliance.
Reported by the ICEJ in its Middle East Intelligence Digest of April 8, 1998

The US-based Jewish Action Alliance has called for a boycott of Benetton, accusing the trendy Italian fashion chain of "endanger[ing] Israel and poison[ing] prospects for Middle East peace" through its latest advertising campaign.

The alliance said a recent 82-page fashion brochure entitled "Enemies", mailed to millions of selected NEWSWEEK magazine subscribers and others in 120 countries, was "full of anti-Israel lies, half-truths, bias and omissions".

It accused Benetton, which it said has rapidly expanding interests in the Arab world, of ignoring PLO terrorism, aggression by Arab dictatorships, and the oppression of minorities and dissidents in Arab countries, while repeatedly suggesting that Israel and Jews were the source of injustice in the Middle East.

Alliance president Beth Gilinsky said: "Manipulative and deceptive publications have long been a weapon of the public relations war waged by the Arab dictators and their sympathisers against Israel and the Jewish people.

"Those of us who fervently seek peace in the Middle East -- a real, durable peace -- are outraged by Benetton's cynical, obnoxious exploitation. Catering to wishful fantasies and fashionable stereotypes, while concealing the facts and realities of the Arab-Israel conflict, Benetton destroys chances for peace and endangers the lives of millions of Jews and Arabs.

"When a rich and powerful corporation seeks to influence public opinion on vital issues, it should do so in a responsible and fair way. But Benetton's disingenuous and unbalanced publication completely fails to meet this standard of corporate responsibility and flaunts its financial power heedless of the truth and regardless of the danger it engenders.

"Gilinsky called for an international boycott of Benetton products, and for a US government investigation into "any attempt by Benetton to receive tax benefits by claiming that its self-serving, ideological pandering is a deductible business expense".

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